SilverSerpent
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 7
- Location
- California
My girlfriend and I adopted a 3 yr old bearded dragon named Mango from an old ex-coworker. Previous owner was going to sell Mango on Craigslist and was neglecting her, so we drove 8 hours round-trip to pick her up and bring her into our care. Once we got there, we saw what conditions Mango had been living in for the last 3 yrs...
She was in a 45 gallon tank that had about a half inch of her own feces covering the floor. No water bowl, no fresh food available, no heat lamp. Upon a closer inspection, we noticed she’s fairly underweight (I haven’t formally weighed her, but she’s very bony. We can see her spine, ribs, and hips) and was severely dehydrated. She has stuck shed in her nostrils and was being fed nothing but wilted lettuce and pelleted 'juvenile bearded dragon chow'. Her vent also looks a little swollen. The tip of her tail is stubbed and when I asked previous owner what had happened to the tail, she stated that when Mango was a baby she had “accidentally closed the cage door on the tail and didn’t notice til several days later”. Mango had dangled from the tank lid by her tail until the tip came clean off. Luckily the tail healed and doesn't seem to cause her any pain or discomfort.
Once we got home, we placed her in a temporary quarantine tank while we disinfected, scrubbed, and redesigned her old 45 gallon. We decked out the new set up with hides, uvb, heat lamp, a water bowl and fresh greens. Placed a white towel on the tank floor so we could observe her stool better, but we plan on replacing it with tile or linoleum later on to help with heat retention. We placed her near her water bowl and she drank quite a bit. She basked and slept the entire day.
On day 2, she basked and slept again for most of the day. She didn’t eat but seemed to be getting a little stronger. She was able to pick herself up and move around the tank more. We gave her a “bath” in a small sterlite tub placed in a sunny spot where she soaked up some water and natural sunlight for about 15 mins. She pooped later in the day and it appeared there was a bit of trace blood in the mucus around the stool. Her stool and urates were also runny, but I figured this was just because she'd had so much water the day prior and because her vent was swollen. Decided to keep an eye on it and wait....
On day 3, she was acting slightly more alert. She was lifting her head more, moving a little more, and though we hadn’t seen her eating, her poo showed she had taken a teensy bite or two of the greens. Still trace blood in her stool, and she appeared to be straining to poop.
Today is day 6 and she's still very lethargic. Still sleeping and basking for almost the entire day. She'll respond to fast movements by opening her eyes just a crack, lifting her head, and doing some 'tongue flicks' but that's about it. Still not moving much. She's also not eating consistently from her bowl or when offered food by hand. We've tried kale, tomato, bell pepper, dandelion greens, mealworms, crickets, blueberries, green beans, strawberries, critical care (the carnivore mix, thinking she'd like the egg protein), and even some of the crummy old "dragon chow" that her previous owner was feeding her, but no luck. We are planning on starting syringe feeding soon.
Since she's not eating I'm starting to get really worried. I set up a vet appointment on Saturday and triple checked my temps and husbandry, but wanted to ask the opinions of some long-time "dragon parents" on here....Am I being a worry wart, or is there something really wrong? What should be my next steps, and how soon is "too soon" for syringe feeding?
Thanks for reading all this, any advice or pro-tips are greatly appreciated
I'll try to provide photos later
She was in a 45 gallon tank that had about a half inch of her own feces covering the floor. No water bowl, no fresh food available, no heat lamp. Upon a closer inspection, we noticed she’s fairly underweight (I haven’t formally weighed her, but she’s very bony. We can see her spine, ribs, and hips) and was severely dehydrated. She has stuck shed in her nostrils and was being fed nothing but wilted lettuce and pelleted 'juvenile bearded dragon chow'. Her vent also looks a little swollen. The tip of her tail is stubbed and when I asked previous owner what had happened to the tail, she stated that when Mango was a baby she had “accidentally closed the cage door on the tail and didn’t notice til several days later”. Mango had dangled from the tank lid by her tail until the tip came clean off. Luckily the tail healed and doesn't seem to cause her any pain or discomfort.
Once we got home, we placed her in a temporary quarantine tank while we disinfected, scrubbed, and redesigned her old 45 gallon. We decked out the new set up with hides, uvb, heat lamp, a water bowl and fresh greens. Placed a white towel on the tank floor so we could observe her stool better, but we plan on replacing it with tile or linoleum later on to help with heat retention. We placed her near her water bowl and she drank quite a bit. She basked and slept the entire day.
On day 2, she basked and slept again for most of the day. She didn’t eat but seemed to be getting a little stronger. She was able to pick herself up and move around the tank more. We gave her a “bath” in a small sterlite tub placed in a sunny spot where she soaked up some water and natural sunlight for about 15 mins. She pooped later in the day and it appeared there was a bit of trace blood in the mucus around the stool. Her stool and urates were also runny, but I figured this was just because she'd had so much water the day prior and because her vent was swollen. Decided to keep an eye on it and wait....
On day 3, she was acting slightly more alert. She was lifting her head more, moving a little more, and though we hadn’t seen her eating, her poo showed she had taken a teensy bite or two of the greens. Still trace blood in her stool, and she appeared to be straining to poop.
Today is day 6 and she's still very lethargic. Still sleeping and basking for almost the entire day. She'll respond to fast movements by opening her eyes just a crack, lifting her head, and doing some 'tongue flicks' but that's about it. Still not moving much. She's also not eating consistently from her bowl or when offered food by hand. We've tried kale, tomato, bell pepper, dandelion greens, mealworms, crickets, blueberries, green beans, strawberries, critical care (the carnivore mix, thinking she'd like the egg protein), and even some of the crummy old "dragon chow" that her previous owner was feeding her, but no luck. We are planning on starting syringe feeding soon.
Since she's not eating I'm starting to get really worried. I set up a vet appointment on Saturday and triple checked my temps and husbandry, but wanted to ask the opinions of some long-time "dragon parents" on here....Am I being a worry wart, or is there something really wrong? What should be my next steps, and how soon is "too soon" for syringe feeding?
Thanks for reading all this, any advice or pro-tips are greatly appreciated
I'll try to provide photos later
